How Kumrashan Indranil Iyer Is Building Trust in the Age of Agentic AI

USA Today

5 hours ago

'The next frontier of AI is not intelligence. It's trust.' With this sentiment, cybersecurity thought leader Kumrashan Indranil Iyer captures the challenges and opportunities of the digital future. Kumrashan believes that cognitive trust, not technical brilliance, will define whether AI becomes a force for resilience or risk.
Kumrashan is dedicated to leading a new generation of cyber defense. As a Senior Leader of Information Security at a major multinational bank, he is tasked with overseeing groundbreaking work in AI-driven threat detection and digital trust systems.
Building systems people can trust
Kumrashan explains that as AI is advancing, it is increasingly able to reason, adapt, and make autonomous decisions. This is called 'agentic AI' and is capable of demonstrating autonomous behavior. 'We're no longer dealing with simple tools. We're interacting with digital agents that pursue goals. These can include goals you didn't explicitly program,' he says.
While traditional AI systems follow scripts and models designed by humans, agentic AI is able to interpret broad objectives and figure out the 'how' on its own. 'This evolution brings with it immense promise but also unprecedented risk,' says Kumrashan.
According to a 2025 study by Cybersecurity Ventures, global damage from cybercrime is projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. Much of this risk is now being shaped by how AI is used, or rather, misused by attackers.
Today's cyber threat profile includes new innovations, such as malware that adapts in real-time and attacks that resemble conversations rather than breaches.
'The threat landscape isn't just growing, it's learning,' Kumrashan warns. 'Imagine an adversary deploying an AI agent that doesn't just follow instructions but evolves its own strategy.' These kinds of attacks are no longer science fiction. They are happening now.
Introducing 'digital conscience'
To meet this challenge, Kumrashan Indranil Iyer has introduced Cognitive Trust Architecture. The novel framework is gaining recognition in cyber defense circles for its focus on adaptive reasoning and trust calibration. Unlike traditional compliance or oversight models, CTA not only observes what AI systems do but also seeks to understand why they behave in a particular way.
Kumrashan explains it this way: 'Think of CTA as a digital conscience. It allows us to guide AI behavior based on trustworthiness, accountability, and explainability. If trust is the currency of human-AI collaboration, then CTA is the treasury that regulates it.'
His research paper on CTA, 'Cognitive Trust Architecture for Mitigating Agentic AI Threats: Adaptive Reasoning and Resilient Cyber Defense', has been cited widely across industry and academic circles, including by researchers focused on machine ethics, autonomous systems, and national digital defense.
In addition, he has authored numerous other influential research papers, including:
Lessons from the frontline
Kumrashan Indranil Iyer explains the motivation behind the system: 'I've spent my career watching brilliant algorithms fail not because they were wrong, but because they weren't understood, or trusted,' Kumrashan says. 'Most AI failures aren't technical. They're trust failures.'
For him, the solution goes beyond better programming. 'AI needs to align more with human intent and ethical reasoning.' In his view, organizations must evolve from AI governance to what he calls AI guardianship.
'Governance gives you a checklist, but guardianship asks: 'Can I predict my AI's behavior? Can I explain it to a regulator? Can I trust it in a crisis?' he explains. 'If the answer to these questions isn't 'yes,' then your system isn't ready.'
Kumrashan is also a passionate advocate for AI literacy and ethical tech leadership. He regularly writes posts that translate complex cybersecurity issues into plain language, offering insights for both professionals and everyday readers.
His recent speaking appearances include the IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence and several panels on responsible AI innovation. He mentors emerging AI professionals and regularly serves as a peer reviewer and research guide in the fields of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
For his efforts, Kumrashan has earned wide recognition across the cybersecurity industry. In 2025, he was named the winner of the Global InfoSec Award for Trailblazing AI Cybersecurity at the RSA Conference and was also honored with the Fortress Cybersecurity Award for innovation in AI defense. In addition, he has been named a Fellow by both the Hackathon Raptors Association and the Soft Computing Research Society in acknowledgment of his contributions to AI-driven security and the advancement of digital trust frameworks.
A future based on trust
Future technology is likely to surpass our wildest imaginations, from self-driving cars to AI-driven military defense. As the world barrels towards this widespread adoption of AI-powered autonomy, Kumrashan believes the stakes are only getting higher.
'I'm excited by the idea of AI agents that predict threats before they happen, respond autonomously, and scale defense beyond human limits,' he says. 'However, I'm also concerned about the lack of causational explainability. Assuming that if it's AI, then it has to be right is dangerous.'
For Kumrashan Indranil, the goal is simple and urgent: to build systems based on cognitive trust.
Disclaimer: This article reflects personal views only and does not represent the views of the individual's employer or affiliates.